


Worth Hoping For

by Serenn



Category: Banana Bus Squad, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Awkwardness, Fluff, Hidden Village, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, I'm Sorry, I'm bad at this, I'm not a pokemon expert, Kinda, Light Angst, M/M, My First Fanfic, Overthinking, Please be nice, Pokemon Fanfiction, Spinoff, Swearing, Very OOC, a lot of it, i can't blame writer's block forever lol, more dialogue to come, or romance expert for that matter, the entire first chapter is just an intro really, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-18 04:38:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10609428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serenn/pseuds/Serenn
Summary: Tyler is forced to accompany his friend Kelly to witness the rare super blood moon which supposedly brings soulmates together. Tyler begins to doubt whether it was worth it, even with his favourite video game on the line, but when one thing leads to another, he might even end up considering that these legends could have some truth to them.Or: Tyler doesn't believe in fairytales. But maybe, just this once, he could hope for one to be true.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm fairly new to AO3 and this is my first time writing fanfiction at all so any feedback would be massively appreciated!
> 
> (I know there is hardly any dialogue, I'll try make up for it in the other chapters. Please be patient with me. :] )
> 
> Hope you enjoy it nonetheless. :]

Moments like these, Tyler questioned himself.

The major trend of becoming a pokemon trainer and catching all pokemon had died down years ago. There still were new sightings of previously undiscovered pokemon but even these were rare and often just a joke. The last major discovery had been over a decade ago but in Tyler’s opinion the little pokemon was just an odd mutation of a common Togepi. He had expected the mystery around pokemon to die down… But apparently he had been wrong.

His roommate and close friend, Kelly, was a pokemon researcher and living proof that the profession and it’s field hadn’t died down yet, not even slightly. Whenever Kelly would return home, he was “privileged” to be the first to hear about their so-called “advances” (really just more crazy theories), mythologies and other strange fairytales... Tyler didn’t believe any of them. As if Water Stones had healing powers…

So when Kelly had once again returned home from a long week at the research center, Tyler hadn’t even listened.

So why was he trudging through seemingly endless stretches of grassy hills in the crazy heat of late summer without any clue about where he was going?

“Because you wanted a copy of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, that’s why”, Kelly reminded him, skipping a few steps ahead of Tyler, flashing a victorious grin which hadn’t left her face all day. Okay, so maybe he _had_ listened. Tyler had been blessed with very selective hearing.

He grudgingly caught up to his friend, trying to ignore his aching feet. At least the sun was close to setting and would leave his eyes alone soon.

“Alright, what the fuck did I get myself into this time?”, he asked, avoiding eye contact. He wasn’t interested but he’d prefer to know what was going on around him. Kelly looked a little baffled.

“I’m surprised you asked”, she pointed out, but before Tyler could get too annoyed, she began to explain, unwilling to miss her opportunity to share her knowledge. “Remember the prehistoric cave we found? Last month?”

Tyler squinted, not too bothered to recall it. Kelly seemed to get the hint.

“We found these amazing carvings and deciphered it to be a ritual of sorts. A phenomenon actually – oh, would you just quit rolling your eyes, it really is – and it involves the pokemon origin theory.”

“Here we go again…”

“Tyler, I’m getting you Battlegrounds. Come on.”

Tyler figured that she had a point and met her remark with a deadpan silence. An annoying cicada or two later, Kelly took it home as another victory and resumed her thrilling story.

“Okay, so pokemon are remains of stars, right? On the night the supermoon is in total eclipse – a super-blood-moon – all pokemon close enough to the moon can feel their other half, the other part of the broken star, and find them. And because pokemon can only form an emotional bond with one special human, the trainers of these pokemon are said to be meant for each other.”

“So what you’re saying is that I’m supposed to be your plus-one so you can find yourself a soulmate?”, Tyler summarised crudely and while she did punch his arm in response, he couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t exactly deny it.

“We’re going to see a really beautiful eclipse up close from the only place high enough to feel the presence of the moon”, she merely said and came to a stop at a ledge. Tyler huffed a bit and glanced down.

Ahead was a steep and rocky way down to a comparably soft patch of grass which surrounded the most comfortable looking wooden lodges Tyler had ever seen. Beyond the houses was a pier, inhabited by some moderately sized ships. Even further in the distance were mountains covered in a myriad of trees and other almost exotic looking plants. Despite being so far away, it was almost impossible to miss the groups of tourists which admired the wild pokemon among the trees. Tyler was almost inclined to believe they travelled into an alternate universe. Who knew that a day’s trip away from home was this beautiful, secret paradise?

On their way towards the little settlement, Kelly told Tyler that this place was accurately named the “Hidden Village” and was looked after by a woman called Melanie. She explained that she took care of abandoned pokemon in the forests and set a rule that catching pokemon was strictly forbidden in the village. By the time they hiked to the top of the mountain, the sun finally disappearing at the horizon, Tyler had gained a certain amount of respect for this place.

Reaching the top, the sky had turned into a dark, pleasant shade of royal blue, highlighting the moon, and hell, Tyler had never seen anything like it. It shone with an intensity that couldn’t be put in words and it was so massive, so close, Tyler felt like he could touch it from where he stood. He hadn’t felt this small in a long time.

They kept walking, following a torch-lit path up into a clearing in the forest. Dozens of people were chatting away in low voices and admiring the view off the cliff, which pointed straight at the moon. Tyler was about to point out that he wasn’t in the mood to socialise but, looking around, Kelly seemed to have forgotten about Tyler’s existence entirely and had begun a conversation with a random stranger.

“Great, just great”, Tyler muttered under his breath but was immediately distracted by something grazing his leg. He flinched away but after checking whether anyone had witnessed his magnificent display of manliness he just spotted a small Growlithe hurrying out of the shadows and into the crowd. Tyler was about to follow it when he noticed that the Growlithe was in no way the only freely roaming pokemon around. Countless pokemon were sitting among the crowds, following tourists and playing with each other in the clearing. A few seconds later, he felt his belt shake and he knew exactly what it meant. Tyler wordlessly extracted one of the pokeballs attached to his belt and freed the pokemon within, a Bulbasaur.

“Calm yourself”, Tyler chuckled, but he hardly had to say anything. His closest and most trusted friend was clearly excited to see so many other pokemon around but decided to curl up in Tyler’s lap and just watch the moon.

Tyler caught the occasional glimpse of Kelly here and there but most of the time he was too focused on the moon or his Bulbasaur’s even breaths ghosting over his arm. Kelly’s theory came to mind and Tyler began toying with the idea. What were the odds that his Bulbasaur’s “other half” was here as well? Tyler lightly bit his lip and averted his eyes from the resting pokemon to dare a glance at the people filling the clearing in front of him.

Could one of them really be his soulmate?

Tyler could see the flimsy spark of hope, hanging in suspension in his mind, but he soon decided to drop it. Soulmate or not, for once this trip wasn’t a complete waste of time and that was all that mattered. The night was peaceful, his worries were with the wind and not even the thought of having to walk back home for another day could ruin this moment.

The whispers turned into shouts of excitement and Tyler looked up, suddenly faced with the most incredible view. The outer part of the earth’s shadow was hitting the major expanse of the moon. It gradually took away it’s shine, darkening the clearing, and hell had Tyler been this tired before? He felt Bulbasaur shift in his lap when everything was flooded in the cold crimson of the moon. The colour submerged Tyler’s mind and was his last memory before he sunk into himself and fell asleep.

\---

 

To Tyler’s surprise, the moon was replaced with the sun when he woke up again. The sky was the same bright and clear blue it had been the day before and the ocean was shimmering under the sunlight. Tyler groaned as he sat up, letting out a noisy yawn. Slowly coming to his senses, he searched through his bag but everything seemed in place, nothing had been stolen from him. Looking around, other people were also just coming to their senses and an air of dizziness hung in the air. Despite all, Tyler felt fantastic. His muscles weren’t aching, the sun wasn’t stinging his eyes the way it usually did from being inside most of the time, his lungs felt wide and the air felt incredibly fresh.

The memory of the eclipse flooded back into his mind and he smiled. He would have hated to miss something as breathtaking as that. The warm air, the odd serenity, the presence of the pokemon, especially his Bulbasaur…

…his Bulbasaur.

“Shit”, Tyler cursed, panic setting in as he fumbled with the pokeball usually occupied by his first ever pokemon, finding it empty. He stumbled between other tourists, rounded the trees surrounding the clearing, in frantic search of his pokemon. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, I should’ve never fucking listened to her, what was I _thinking_ -“

Tyler kept searching for an hour but to no avail. His Bulbasaur was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprised I got this one out so quickly... It's still very slow-paced, but hey, Craig's joined the party now! We're halfway there :D
> 
> Before this chapter I just want to say thank you for the kind comments and for taking the time to leave a kudos, I'm surprised people are actually reading and enjoying this little fic! The next chapter may take some time (exams lol) but I'll do my best to update as early as possible.
> 
> Again, comments and feedback are appreciated!
> 
> (Also, apologies for the swearing, I couldn't find another way to get into Tyler's character XD The fluff will make it's debut next chapter, I promise. :] )

The tourists slowly began to leave the clearing and it made Tyler panic even more. He didn’t want to be left alone in this mess. Speaking of alone…

Tyler had to pinch his hand to keep it from shaking so much as he sat down at the edge of the cliff and dialled a number.

“Hello?”

“Kelly?”

“Tyler! Where are you?”

“I’m exactly where you left me, where the fuck are _you_?”

The barely stifled laugh from the other end did nothing to help Tyler’s mood in the slightest. Kelly hesitated for a few seconds.

“I…found him”, she said, the smile evident in her voice. “My soulmate. Millie found his Venonat. I told you it’s real.”

Tyler scowled at her typical “I told you so” but did his best to bite back any comments about it. Instead he rolled his eyes and groaned dramatically.

“Wow, great, so you just ran off with him?”, he asked, basically snapping at his phone. There was another small pause.

“Okay big man, what’s up with you?” Tyler sometimes forgot that Kelly wasn’t that bad at picking up hints as she seemed. He sighed and decided it was time for real talk.

“My Bulbasaur is gone.”

“What? How gone?”

Tyler was slowly losing his patience. While he was trying to explain, his Bulbasaur could be in danger. He was starting to think he was wasting his time.

“I don’t know, okay? He’s just gone, he disappeared when we were all asleep”, he muttered, running a stressed hand through his hair. Shit, this was _bad_. “Why did we even fall asleep, what the fuck was that? We all could’ve been robbed or some shit! Soulmates don’t even fucking exist, all your shitty theories are fucking bullshit, fuck you and your fucked up ideas!”

Tyler already knew that he’d regret saying all this but he couldn’t get himself to stop now. Kelly’s response was immediate.

“Excuse me?! Just because _you_ didn’t find anyone –“

“HE’S NOT YOUR SOULMATE, ALRIGHT? Your Marill is blind as FUCK. You’re gonna go on cheesy dates, you’re gonna fuck a few times, you’ll break up”, Tyler interrupted, expression livid. “Wake the fuck up, Kelly. This shit doesn’t happen in real life.”

What Tyler hadn’t expected was for Kelly to shoot a deadly “well fuck you too, Tyler” back at him and hang up. He cursed and flung his phone beside him, again immediately regretting his actions. His phone seemed fine, but that was hardly the point. He needed to think before acting. Not his forte.

Tyler finally got back up, a good bit more fired up after that call. He was the only one who would look for his Bulbasaur, it was up to him to fix it. He hadn’t watched out for him and now he was gone. It was his fault, so he had to go find him on his own.

The hours after were surprisingly lonely. Tyler had gone deeper into the forest, which he found was actually a nice place to relax if it weren’t for the circumstances. His thoughts were constantly occupied with worry and guilt – in relation to his pokemon, _definitely_ not Kelly – so he would occasionally let one or two of his pokemon out to accompany him. His search was nonetheless unsuccessful and he couldn’t find his way back before night fell. With the help of his pokemon, he found a small cave under the roots of a particularly large tree and decided that he had no other choice but to stay there for the night.

Tyler kept searching for another day and again had to return to the cave for the time being. As he tried to convince his pokemon that he’d be fine on his own and that they could return to their pokeballs, he noticed a change in behaviour. Maybe he was imagining it, but they seemed a little wary of their surroundings and were being a lot more cuddly than they usually were, trying to huddle together and duck behind Tyler whenever they could. He even double-checked the cave, but it seemed as empty as it had been the night before. What could they possibly be so worried about? It got dark much earlier than before too, making Tyler feel a bit uneasy too. He fell into a light sleep, waking up at the smallest of sounds.

By the next morning, he had gotten hardly any sleep. But he had also figured out why his pokemon had been acting so oddly. Tyler had barely left the cave when the already suspiciously strong wind turned into a proper storm, scaring his little friends into their pokeballs at once. He had intended to continue further up the mountain but the weather was not to mess with, even for someone as heavy as Tyler. He kept losing his balance and was sometimes forcefully pushed into the trees he held onto. It didn’t take long for Tyler to give up for the day and begin a dangerous run back down the mountain. Once he made it back to the pier, it started raining, so he ran for the closest shelter he could find, the lodges.

He sprinted towards the first door he saw and hammered his fist against it like a mad man. The only response he got was the rolling thunder and he flinched when it was closely followed by lightning. Tyler tried a few more doors, but just as he was about to move on to another, he heard a shrill voice calling over the weather.

“What on earth are you doing?!”

Tyler whipped around, eyes widening as much as the rain let him before sprinting into the direction the voice came from. He was about to reach the source of it when the person screamed and ran inside, slamming the door shut.

“Please, just open up!”, Tyler yelled, hoping he was heard from inside. He was about to knock again when the door was opened once more, he was grabbed by the collar of his jacket and yanked inside.

“Ow, hey, what the hell dude-?”

“- and you’re making such a fuss, everybody called at the reception – ‘killer this, killer that’, as if! Just another crazy tourist who can’t behave.”

Tyler could hardly see anything with the rain water creeping into his eyes. He was sat down somewhere and some kind of fabric was thrown at him. The sounds of the rain and thunder were drowned out after he heard a clicking, presumably the door. A loud sound made him flinch and he could sense the smell of food and fire.

“Quit yelling and eat.”

Tyler noticed that said fabric was a towel, so he quickly wiped his eyes dry and took in his surroundings. He was sitting on a wooden bench, one of many in the large hall. Long tables stretched inbetween, occupied by a few other people who glanced at him with an air of curiosity and amusement. On the table in front of him was a bowl full of hot stew, accompanied by a plate of bread slices, and suddenly Tyler realised how hungry he was. The girl who had reprimanded him sat down in front of him, pouting a little. Before he could glare back, someone tugged at his jacket. Looking up, he found Melanie, the woman Kelly had talked about. He recognised her easily from the pictures she had shown him.

“Sorry about my daughter, she doesn’t know how to deal with customers yet”, she said, smiling gently as she took Tyler’s jacket off. The young girl scoffed.

“He came running straight at me, I’m not –“

“Customers?”, Tyler interrupted, earning him a glare from the other. Melanie nodded.

“This is a hotel, if you haven’t noticed yet”, she chuckled. Once she noticed the state he was in – drenched essentially – she left to return with a change of clothes. “Stay for free tonight, if you want to. This weather is hardly fair.”

Tyler wanted to deny the offer but realised that he didn’t have any money for a hotel room with him, so he reluctantly agreed. He finished the stew and had to smuggle some more bread since he hadn’t eaten a lot over the past few days and his stomach was full on protesting. Melanie’s daughter reluctantly showed him where his lodge was, handed him his keys and ran back inside. Tyler could hardly blame her. He was glad to finally be able to shower again, especially knowing that he had a fresh and dry set of clothes waiting outside. Once he was done with his shower, the rain had stopped too, leaving only the growling of the thunder and the sound of the wind soaring through the tiniest crevices of the house.

The real question was what Tyler’s plan was. He slowly got dressed, pondering all the while. At this point, his anger had dissolved entirely into worry, but a thought had allowed some fury to seep back in. He had checked his bag, nothing had been stolen. But, come to think of it, they didn’t have to be conventional thieves… Maybe they were pokemon thieves. Maybe they had used all this as an excuse to lure people into one place and make them all fall asleep somehow. Maybe they had stolen a few pokemon or two, maybe Tyler wasn’t the only one who had been scouring the forests for the past few days.  
Maybe they had his Bulbasaur.

Now fit to rage again, Tyler resisted the urge to kick something. He pulled the borrowed shirt over his head, already making plans of confronting Melanie about who managed the event – hell, maybe it was _her_ all along – when someone knocked on his door. It had lightened up a bit outside but the storm was still ongoing. Tyler was a bit suspicious. Was it Melanie? Maybe another thief? Tyler eventually remembered what he just had to go through and hurried across the room to open the door anyway. Shitty weather or not, somebody could be needing help.

Standing outside Tyler’s door was a man, shorter than him. The glasses balancing on his nose were askew and ready to fly away and his light hair was standing off at odd angles, some leaves adorning it. He looked slightly out of breath and an insecure smile lined his features. While Tyler would have been more than willing to appreciate this man’s appearance for much longer than two seconds, he was much more drawn to what he was carrying.

Nestled protectively into the man’s arms was Tyler’s Bulbasaur, yipping happily at the sight of him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It didn't take as long to update as I thought it would XD But it still took a while so here's a slightly longer chapter, hope you enjoy!

The mystery man in the doorway looked down at the Bulbasaur in his arms before smiling at Tyler.

Tyler stared at the pokemon he had been sure he’d never see again. All his previous worries and angered thoughts just disappeared and he had never been so happy to see a stranger before.

“Hey…” The man’s voice called for Tyler’s attention and he was quick to give it. Despite still standing in the whipping wind, he sounded remarkably content. “I’m guessing she’s yours? She wouldn’t leave me alone earlier and brought me all the way here.”

When Tyler didn’t answer immediately, the man tilted his head nervously.

“Please tell me she’s yours, I already feel stupid following a random pokemon for hours”, he chuckled half-heartedly.

“He”, Tyler corrected, earning a confused look from the stranger. “Yeah, he’s mine, I’ve been – no wait, get inside first. I’m Tyler by the way.”

“Ah – I’m Craig, but – I really don’t mean to stay –“

But Tyler’s hand was already on Craig’s shoulder, guiding him into the lodge. He quickly closed the door behind them and the moment he turned around, his Bulbasaur was jumping at him straight out of Craig’s arms. Tyler barely caught it, face lighting up, still in the process of realising what just happened. His Bulbasaur was back. He was right there in front of him, as happy and healthy as a creature could be. He wasn’t stolen, he didn’t have to deal with the management – as if there even was one – and Melanie was the kind lady she appeared to be. Probably. Maybe she sold drugs, who knew.

Tyler put his Bulbasaur back down and glanced at Craig, who had smiled through the entire ordeal. He could tell that the man felt a little out of place but he decided then and there that he had to make him feel as comfortable as possible after essentially saving his life and sanity.

“Thanks man”, Tyler said with a smile. He hadn’t smiled the past few days. “You have no idea.”

“Don’t mention it. I was going to stay in the village for a while anyway, figured I might as well find out what the deal is with her. Him. It.” Craig looked a little thoughtful for a second. “The Bulbasaur.”

Seemingly satisfied, he looked back up to see the taller man shaking his head with the subtlest of smiles. Tyler generally disliked people, especially pointlessly happy ones, but he figured he might like this one. He headed towards the lodge’s small kitchen, consisting of a mini fridge, a barely stocked pantry, a sink and a stove, and began to fill a small pot with water.

“You’re not from here then?”, he asked curiously, placing the pot on the stove and flicking the heat on.

Craig shook his head, a few leaves tumbling down his shoulders. “I live a day trip away.”

“Then stay here. No point walking around outside with a red weather warning, it’s supposed to get worse later too. I got this place for the night for free, I’m sure they won’t mind. Coffee? Tea?”

Tyler turned around, mustering the other. He was sitting down on the narrow couch, Bulbasaur immediately crawling into his lap. Craig looked a little conflicted but when his expression softened, Tyler knew he had him.

“Okay, only one night though. Tea’s fine, thanks.”

Tyler smiled a bit, not too sure himself what he was so happy about. A few minutes later, tea was served, Craig had taken off his shoes and jacket and Tyler was attempting to function the fireplace, so far without luck. The longer he tried, the quicker his expression darkened.

“Fuck, this night is gonna be too cold if this thing doesn’t work”, Tyler murmured, stressing a little. “I might run over to Melanie and ask her how to work these.”

A glance out the window to the wind-bent trees told Craig enough to slide down from his position on the couch and join Tyler in his crouching position. Nobody should be out there right now. He mustered the blocks of wood and the items in the bag they had found in the corner earlier.

“Let me try”, he finally said, not even giving Tyler a chance to protest as he lightly shoved him aside. Two minutes later, a fire was blazing in the fireplace. Tyler decided not to question it. Or himself.

The two fell into light conversation over tea, occasionally pausing to just listen to the storm raging outside. Tyler was glad that he didn’t have to run all the way back to the main building to get food for his companion since Craig already had a few packed sandwiches with him. While Craig took a shower, Tyler tidied up and considered the sleeping options.

The bed wasn’t particularly small and would likely fit both but Tyler felt a bit embarrassed just thinking about it. They had just met after all and while Craig seemed rather comfortable around him, he doubted he’d be that thrilled to share a bed with him too. He’d also been told that he took up all the space overnight. The moment Tyler imagined waking up lying all over Craig, drooling onto his disgusted face, it was decided. He’d leave the poor man alone.

Craig walked out of the shower with a towel (the bathroom consisted of the shower itself and a small adjacent sink), looking about as awkward as Tyler. The two looked at each other for a few seconds before beginning to laugh. Tyler figured, if he could laugh that off, then he was someone he wouldn’t mind keeping around.

Craig thankfully had his own change of clothes and got changed when Tyler wasn’t watching. When he finally approached Tyler, the latter pointed at the bed.

“You take the bed”, he said curtly. “I’d take the couch but that thing is tiny, so I’m sleeping on the floor.”

In front of the couch was a bed of pillows and blankets with an old fleece throw folded on top. Craig stared at it with disbelief before frowning at Tyler. A few seconds later, they began to argue. Another five minutes later, Craig was grudgingly climbing into the bed while Tyler lay down on the uncomfortable pillows. He was seriously starting to change his mind but he couldn’t back out now, so he just hoped he’d fall asleep soon.

Life wasn’t being too kind to him though. By the time Craig’s light snores sounded, Tyler still found himself staring up at the ceiling. The fireplace barely illuminated the room and its light was slightly obstructed by the pokemon curled up in front of it. Tyler reached out to pet his Bulbasaur, watching it with a fond smile. He’d have to ask Craig where he found him, he did say that he wouldn’t leave him alone… And how on earth did he know where Tyler was? If he was able to sense him, why didn’t he come straight to him? It did feel a bit odd.

Come to think of it… Bulbasaur found Craig. _Found_.

Tyler worried his lip as memories of Kelly’s story came to mind.

_Maybe, just maybe…_

\---

Tyler’s thoughts remained cluttered with what-if scenarios through the night and in the end, he only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep. While he couldn’t say that he enjoyed the insomnia, all that thinking brought him to a new realisation.

Even if Bulbasaur found Craig, he didn’t find Craig’s pokemon. And more importantly, Craig’s pokemon never found him either.

But Tyler couldn’t just write it off as a coincidence. Looking at it logically, hoping for anything would likely just lead to disappointment but he still couldn’t get himself to just move on with his life.

Once he saw someone in a certain way, there was no turning back.

He couldn’t change it, he couldn’t go back to thinking, _Man, this dude is pretty chill_ , without something at the back of his mind whispering something along the lines of, _I bet he’s a good kisser too_. And because he refused to let the thought just die, he came up with crazy theories too.

Maybe Craig didn’t have pokemon. That was why Bulbasaur found _him_ , not his pokemon. That had to be it.

Of course, those chances were close to zero, because who _didn’t_ have a pokemon these days?

“Tyler, you okay?”

Tyler blinked, suddenly realising that he had been staring at his toast as if it were his plan for world domination. But instead of planning to take over the world, he planned to take over Craig.

“Yeah, fine.”

The two were sitting at one of the smaller tables in the hotel’s dining hall, eating from a large buffet set up at the small end of the room. Since the sky cleared, rays of sunlight were flooding in through the tall glass windows, returning the holiday vibes Tyler had gotten on the first day. A few guests were around as well, considerably less than the day before. Tyler guessed that most people had gone home as soon as the storm had stopped.

Craig glanced at Tyler, obviously suspicious. Tyler hadn’t been nearly as talkative as last night and looked like he was sleepwalking half the time. Tyler just sighed at the other’s scrutinising look. Most people would have left him alone when he said that he just didn’t sleep well but he had a feeling that Craig could tell that it wasn’t just that. Heck, sometimes Tyler wondered whether he could read his mind.

He looked around when Craig got up and just left. Tyler sighed, guessing the other had gone to the bathroom, but when Craig came back, he brought the heavenly scent of coffee. He put down one of the mugs in front of Tyler, along with a small jug of milk and a canister of sugar. Tyler frowned but Craig just smiled at him and continued to eat his scrambled eggs.

Maybe he couldn’t read his mind after all. If he could, then he’d probably distance himself instead of bringing him coffee and the purest smile on earth. This man was walking happiness. Tyler didn’t know what to make of it. As he silently drank his coffee, Craig put down his cutlery and continued with his soul-piercing stare. He wasn’t even trying to hide his attempts to get Tyler to talk anymore.

“Come on, what’s up?”

Tyler almost choked on his coffee. That sounded awfully like Kelly.

“Nothing big, just thinking.”

“No shit”, Craig laughed, rolling his eyes. “Does it have to do with pokemon and legends?”

If Tyler almost choked on his coffee before, he definitely did this time. Craig had the audacity to laugh even harder.

“You talk in your sleep, sir. Don’t mean to pry, but you were being a bit loud.”

The two just looked at each other for a few seconds, Tyler looking thoroughly defeated, Craig leaning over the table, arms crossed, with a victorious smile on his face. Tyler spun his mug between his fingers, thinking hard. Half the truth.

“Yeah, uh”, he began, frowning. “My friend brought me here for this event a few days ago-“

“You were there too?” Craig was leaning even closer, looking rather excited. This was not how Tyler expected this to go.

“The soulmate thing?”

“Yes, up at the clearing on the mountain”, Craig grinned. “I think it was stunning, really. We were gonna go in a group, myself and some others, they said it was a good place to see the moon like that. They all said they couldn’t go the week before so I went on my own. I only found out later about the legends and stories.”

Tyler felt nowhere near as embarrassed for having gone to something fairytale-related, knowing Craig went as well. He was about to discuss the whole thing, maybe rant a little about how everyone was put to sleep, when he realised what it likely meant.

“So… You have a pokemon?”

When Craig nodded, Tyler felt a major wave of disappointment. If the legends were true, then they weren’t meant to be. Just when he was about to go back to his original mindset – that all those stupid myths were bullshit fairytales that someone made up – Craig’s expression fell a little.

“I have a few with me”, he said slowly. “Once I heard the whole story and everyone got their pokemon out, I figured why not? So I took out mine too.”

Craig paused for a second, absent-mindedly stirring his coffee.

“When I woke up, she was gone.”

Tyler couldn’t think of anything better to do than just stare at the man sitting in front of him. His mind was a mess, thoughts over thoughts took over and he just had this urge to resolve all this. After all those days of fretting over his Bulbasaur (and potentially also the hope that Craig and Tyler’s situation was somehow meant to be after all), Tyler was determined to act. He expressed his sympathies, though rather hurriedly as he had to excuse himself and make a phone call. Sooner or later, he had to fix things between himself and Kelly after all.

The first word wasn’t even a “hello”.

“What do you want, Tyler?”

“To apologise. And I need your help.”

“Of course you need my help, otherwise you wouldn’t be apologising.”

“I would have called eventually, just maybe not that early”, Tyler said truthfully, feeling a bit dejected. “I’m sorry about what I said, I was in a fit over losing my pokemon. I know it’s not an excuse for yelling at you, but you know me.”

There was a pause in which Tyler thought Kelly would just hang up on him again. Craig watched curiously, a bit confused.

“That’s right, I know you”, Kelly finally agreed. “You always do that.”

“Kelly, I –“

“What do you need help with?”

Tyler mouthed a _thank fuck_ at nobody in particular and wasted no time explaining.

“Someone found my Bulbasaur.”

“Oh that’s lucky. Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. Problem is, his pokemon’s gone too. He woke up and it disappeared.” Tyler bit his lip in thought. “He said Bulbasaur brought him to me. Is there any way his pokemon could do that too? Like, find him on its own?”

Craig sat up straight at that point, looking worriedly at Tyler.

“Lost pokemon can generally find their way back to their owners. It often takes ages though. It depends on the environment.”

“It was storming out but Bulbasaur still found me. Surely –? ”

“He’s a grass-type pokemon and a strong one at that”, Kelly interrupted. “He had a relatively high chance of finding you despite the storm. You also share a strong emotional bond, you’ve been together since he hatched.”

“Fuck dude... There has to be a way”, he muttered, staring out the window. He already heard the forecast, the good weather would last for another two maybe three hours and then the storm would start up again.

“What pokemon is it? If it’s a grass or flying type pokemon, it might have a good chance. Even a water type pokemon could potentially find its way to the ocean and from there on back to him.”

Tyler covered his phone’s microphone and looked up at Craig.

“What pokemon is it?”

“An Eevee.”

Tyler grimaced and got back to Kelly.

“It’s an Eevee. What are the chances?”

Kelly didn’t even hesitate.

“Near zero. Eevees generally go missing very quickly. They are one of the most unstable pokemon out there. I’m sorry but I don’t see it happening. Not in a storm, not this pokemon and definitely not after so many days out in the wild on its own.”

Tyler had guessed that much but it still was difficult to hear. If somebody told him the same about his own pokemon, he’d be devastated. He glanced at Craig, whose expression still showed hope, and his heart ached a little. This shouldn’t be something he took this personally. Yes, Craig returned his own pokemon. But that Eevee was none of his business. He could just leave now, get out of the storm zone while the weather was good and go home.

“Thanks Kelly”, he murmured.

“No problem. Sorry to hear all that.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He ended the call and got up, stacking the empty plates and cutlery. Craig looked a bit alarmed.

“Are you leaving?”

“I wish”, Tyler admitted before indicating Craig to get up. The other stood up and helped Tyler clear the table before shooting him a questioning look. The giant just headed for the door.

“We’ll find your Eevee.”

Tyler never saw the way Craig’s face lit up like a sunrise, he only felt the soft hair that tickled his neck and the arms that wrapped around him from behind, stopping him in his tracks.

“Thank you Tyler!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update will probably still take a while, college finals are a beautiful thing... (I hope the sarcasm was obvious lol)
> 
> Thank you for the kind comments and kudos! I'm sorry about the slow story progress, I generally prefer a faster-paced story too but I can't get used to writing that way yet. Feel free to point out any mistakes, I generally only read over the entire thing once before I post it and I don't have a beta. Feedback is still veeeery much appreciated. Thanks guys! Seeya ~


	4. Chapter 4

Tyler was convinced that he’d regret helping Craig, just the way he regretted most things he did.

But he didn’t change his mind after they had gotten changed and he didn’t turn back when they reached the edge of the forest either. In fact, he actually enjoyed the peaceful walk with Craig. It was obvious in Craig’s eyes that he was still worried but Tyler considered anyone a heartless monster who wouldn’t be concerned for their lost pokemon.

Tyler and Craig had each decided to let a pokemon accompany them, a Clefairy and an Oddish, but it didn’t take them long to realise that each other’s company was more than enough.

Tyler was standing on a low branch of a tree, currently having a laughing fit while Craig glared up at him.

“Stop laughing!”, the shorter one snapped yet again, barely managing to hide his smile.

“You named it –“ Tyler hardly managed to say a full sentence without doubling over again. “You named it Bass... That is the most stupid thing I have ever heard… I can’t, I’m just done…”

“Tyler.”

“Bass! Because it’s a male CLEFairy, I can’t breathe …”

“Help me up, you doofus.”

Tyler finally managed to calm himself down and helped Craig up, just grinning. Craig couldn’t stay mad at him and he definitely couldn’t deny that his mind worked in strange ways when it came to naming pokemon, so he ended up chuckling along anyway.

It was almost too easy – the light conversation, the laughter, the teases and jokes here and there… Tyler generally took ages to get to that level with someone. How could he _not_ believe Craig was special? It also didn’t help that, since that hug back at the dinner hall, they seemed to have crossed some invisible proximity barrier. Tyler could feel his heart leaping into his throat every time he took Craig’s hand and helped him up. Worst of all were the times the hill got too steep and they occasionally slipped on foliage, desperately holding onto each other. Eventually they’d just crawl off the other, spluttering out apologies like the awkward idiots they were.

The fun didn’t last long though and Tyler noticed his Oddish’s uneasiness just barely before the wind picked up its pace. They stopped to return their pokemon to their pokeballs and made nervous eye contact. It was only going to get worse from here.

The two continued up the mountain, keeping a longer lookout than before. The wind was making it difficult for Tyler to hear Craig, let alone some rustling in the bushes from a terrified Eeevee, forcing them to rely on their eyes even more to compensate for their ears. Their conversation had stopped hours ago and the gaps between the clouds began to darken too. They initially planned to return to the lodge if they couldn’t find anything and the weather got worse, which meant that they should likely head back soon. Tyler was trying to think of a way to break it to Craig without breaking his spirit, he himself was getting tired as well, but –

“Tyler?”

Tyler turned around at the faint sound, ripped out of his thoughts. Craig had stopped a few meters down the hill, leaning heavily against a tree. Tyler frowned and carefully climbed back to the other’s altitude. The two looked at each other, both of their faces laced with exhaustion, quiet for a few seconds. When Craig didn’t say anything and sent him an almost pleading look, Tyler cupped the other’s face, gently running his thumb over his cheek.

“Let’s go home, okay?”

Craig just nodded numbly and Tyler held out an arm, which the broken man took as if his life depended on it. Tyler knew that this wasn’t just physical exhaustion alone. It was pure guilt, he felt guilty for something he couldn’t have controlled and Tyler knew exactly what could happen to someone when said guilt just became too much. They had to get back to the lodge.

He supported Craig the entire way, only to find that the mountain ran in a slope back upwards, which it definitely hadn’t done a few hours ago. Tyler could tell that Craig wasn’t paying a lot of attention anymore, he was relying on Tyler to bring him back, so he pretended that he knew where he was going for as long as possible. But Craig wasn’t stupid.

“Tyler?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we lost?”

Tyler didn’t answer, knowing that he didn’t have to. How on earth they managed to get lost on a mountain was beyond him and he was slowly starting to lose his nerves. He glanced at Craig, who was leaning on him, eyes half closed and glasses askew, looking ready to pass out.

_Not now, not with him. Protect him, for God’s sake._

_Think, Tyler. Think._

“Come on”, he murmured, leading the two under a tree with relatively large leaves. It had to do as shelter for now. Craig gradually took in his surroundings once he realised that they’d stopped but still didn’t say anything. Tyler carefully guided the other into a sitting position next to him before looking down at his pokeballs. He didn’t have anything too powerful with him, not expecting a fight or anything of the sort to happen. It wasn’t much, but it was a spark of hope. He wouldn’t let it disappear this time.

“Piggy?”, Tyler asked tentatively, surprised when the Pigeot actually appeared out of its ball. Although it looked downright offended. Tyler had hoped that a fake stupid nickname would make Craig smile and perk up a bit, the way it did before, but when he looked over, Craig was lying on Tyler’s bag, unmoving. After making sure that he was only sleeping, Tyler turned back to his Pigeot.

“Alright, Teon. Can you find me another flying-type pokemon from here?”

Pigeot, or Teon, moved to the pokeballs in Craig’s grasp which Tyler had pointed at. It took him a mere three seconds before he began pecking a specific ball. Tyler released the pokemon within, a Wingull.

“Good job”, Tyler praised. The Wingull looked a bit wary of Tyler and especially the other bird, who didn’t seem to mind the strange pokemon as much. “Wingull, can you do me a favour? I need to get Craig to safety.”

The Wingull didn’t seem particularly difficult to convince and a minute later, it followed Teon into the dangerous storm above the trees and out of sight.

_Fuck, this was a bad idea, they will get hurt, maybe even go missing too –_

Tyler was again on the brink of panic, beginning to overthink and worry and stress and take his thoughts apart. He wanted to scream for being so stupid. With his fucked up decisions, never considering the consequences until after they were made…

Tyler suddenly noticed Craig stir a little and calmed down again. Strange, how easy it was.

He could do this. They were fine. Nothing bad was going to happen to the two birds. The Eevee found a good cave to hide in and was safe and sound. The storm wouldn’t leave them out to die. Craig was just exhausted from climbing for days on end. He’d be his happy self again tomorrow and Tyler could battle with his mind for thinking Craig was so adorable. Teon would come back with the Wingull and lead the way back. Everything was fine.

He was fine.

_I’m fine._

Tyler gently lifted Craig off of his bag’s cold surface and made him lean against him. He protectively wrapped his arms around him, almost managing a smile when Craig curled up and shuffled closer.

\---

Once it became difficult to even see Craig right in front of him, Tyler’s worries threatened to return. But Craig was moving again, so he had to shove those thoughts aside.

Tyler took away one arm to allow Craig to move around if he wanted to, but he stayed dead still.

“Craig? Are you okay?”

His response was the last thing Tyler expected.

“I am such a failure, holy fuck.”

His eyes widened when Craig began to laugh hollowly and he was quick to hold onto the other’s hands.

“You’re not a failure, Craig. You –“

“Don’t even start”, Craig hissed, his laugh gone but his ghostly smile still there. “I went to this random-ass event in the middle of nowhere, no money for a stay, could’ve been a scam. Went alone, brought pokemon for some reason. Who takes pokemon with them?”

“I do”, Tyler threw in but Craig was already shaking his head, sinking back against Tyler’s chest, smile gone too.

“You can take care of them. Difference.”

Tyler was about to point out the obvious – he was the one who’d lost his Bulbasaur first – but he was again not allowed to talk.

“I took them with me and I let her walk around. She loves the grass, she loves the trees, she rarely gets to see other pokemon… She loves being outside… And she looked at me with such grateful eyes, I thought I was the best thing that happened to her since we found her and now she’s gone, Tyler, she’s fucking gone and I’ll never see her again, she’s probably dead somewhere, loathing me with every inch of her fur, because I’m an asshole, I’m an irresponsible fuck who mentally scars his own pokemon before killing them, I should be out there, fucking dead under some roots – “

“Craig – “

“- and – no, shut up – and I should be sleeping in the woods until I fucking find her, I shouldn’t even be allowed to sleep in a bed when she’s – “

“Craig, please, just calm –“

“No, Tyler! You know it’s true, I’m –“

“Really fucking cute and a great friend and trainer, now shut the fuck up before I make you.”

That one seemed to at least startle Craig a little and Tyler refused to even give him a chance to continue talking. He also refused to give his mind a chance to realise what just happened because he sure as hell didn’t just call Craig cute, that’s definitely not a thing.

“We all fell asleep, you couldn’t have known. Your Eevee was probably just confused or scared and ran for it, it’s a normal instinct and has nothing to do with you. Everyone has pokemon with them and you clearly take care of them if you eat breakfast with them and name them after shitty puns. Craig – “

Craig looked up in the near-darkness, his face an inch away from Tyler’s.

“ – you’re fine. You know all that. Keep your mind here, with me. It’ll be fine. You’re fine.”

Craig nodded slowly, all that energy fading away in one sigh as he sank back into himself. Tyler caught the other and wrapped his arms around him again, feeling just as exhausted. He needed a break. They both did.

They stayed like that for another hour, Craig as asleep as the weather allowed him to be and Tyler scanning the skies, heart pounding loudly in his ears. Partially because of the outburst of emotion before and just how close they were, but mainly because his pokemon hadn’t returned yet. Just as he considered scouring the area on his own, he heard a muffled cry from above.

Teon was soaring down to land in front of the two, looking agitated and like an absolute mess. His feathers were slightly bent, laced with random pieces of moss and leaves. He was urgently jumping around in front of them and Tyler sighed with relief. He hoped that Teon found the way and that the Wingull was just waiting there. Craig would never forgive him if something happened to it.

“Craig”, Tyler whispered, shaking the other lightly. “Craig, wake up. We’ve gotta move.”

Craig protested a little but within a minute, he was up on his feet, still leaning on Tyler but comparably less heavily.

“Craig, I’m so sorry about your Eevee but we need to get to safety”, Tyler murmured. It hurt to say it, knowing that it destroyed Craig on the inside. “We need to get to Wingull, make sure he’s okay. We’ll ask Melanie tomorrow whether she can do anything but please, we need to go home.”

Apparently to Craig it didn’t make much of a difference anymore as he just nodded. He didn’t say anything about the Wingull so Tyler figured he hadn’t actually listened to him. He guided them along the mountain, following his impatient Pigeot as quickly as possible. His shoulders were in piercing pain from carrying Craig and his feet had ached from day one and were burning at this point. His fatigue would get the better of him soon enough. Craig’s nearly unconscious form was the only reason he was still moving.

Just when the path was beginning to look more familiar, Teon stopped, feathers spread, head tilted. Tyler came to a halt too, heaving Craig up a bit higher. Following the bird’s tilt, he noticed a bush moving unnaturally, even for the strong wind. Teon seemed to be waiting for a command of sorts so Tyler told him to keep going. A mere hundred meters further, it happened again.

Would a wild pokemon attack them now? He had been told the island was inhabited by relatively friendly pokemon so this was a bit unsettling. The third time it happened, Tyler blinked the rain water out of his eyes and squinted at the direction Teon was staring at. This time the bird backed up and Tyler finally saw why.

A tiny creature stepped out from the bushes and it took Tyler ages to figure out what this near-camouflaged being was – a Leafeon.

It stopped a few meters away from them, naturally shy but somehow also very eager to approach them. It was unusual for wild pokemon. Wasn’t it scared of being attacked?

The longer Tyler looked at it, the more did he get the feeling that something was different about this Leafeon. If only he could place his finger on it…

“Why are we stopping?”

Craig looked up at Tyler before following his line of sight. Two seconds later, a whisper escaped him.

“Vee?”

The Leafeon seemed to take it as its cue to run straight at the two, startling Tyler. Craig however took his arm from Tyler’s shoulders and shakily caught the pokemon in his arms. When he turned back around, he was shamelessly crying. But the unexpected smile on his face was so bright, it made Tyler forget about the storm entirely.

“It’s my Eevee!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that one took a while... This is 3am stress writing, so mistakes have probably been made somewhere.  
> I'm not the best with angst or emotional writing in general but I hope this turned out okay nonetheless. Feel free to tell me what you think.
> 
> Next chapter should be the final one! That's where all the fluff will go, hopefully. I think we all need it at this point lol
> 
> Stay safe, have a good one <3


	5. Chapter 5

The excitement of finding his Eevee – or Leafeon – had definitely brought some life back into Craig. He was still leaning onto Tyler, but they were moving faster and, more importantly, he was _smiling_ like there was no tomorrow.

Before they had been able to continue their hike, Tyler had spent ten minutes convincing Craig to put the Leafeon into a pokeball, Craig being reluctant to let go of it. As adorable as the sight had been, they really needed to get a move on before their legs decided that they’d had enough and gave up on them. Now back on track, the pair were following Tyler’s Pigeot back down the mountain. As lucky as they had been with Bulbasaur and Eevee, would a third time still be a charm? After all, Tyler still was responsible for Wingull and he had no idea what had happened to him. The fact that Craig didn’t know about its disappearance yet did nothing to calm Tyler’s nerves in the slightest.

When the trees began to give way to low bushes and the familiar exotic plants, they knew they had finally decended the mountain. But when Tyler looked up and saw the lodges, Teon headed straight towards them, his heart sank. Surely this couldn’t be it? Had Teon really abandoned Wingull? Maybe he hadn’t even noticed the fellow pokemon’s disappearance until it was too late to find it…

Tyler was about to confess the worst to Craig, when he noticed that Teon wasn’t actually headed for their own cabin, but rather the main hotel lodge. The pokemon flew up to one of the windows and let out a loud cry, startling something on the other side of the glass. The window was opened by Melanie, who held a bundled up Wingull in her arm. Tyler could have collapsed right there with relief. Craig chose that moment to return to reality and immediately noticed his pokemon.

“Is that -?”

Before Tyler could respond, Melanie nodded.

“His Pigeot found him and brought him all the way here”, she said with a smile. “He should be fine again in a day or two.”

Craig shot Tyler a questioning look, the latter just hoping he wouldn’t be killed for this.

“I sent him off with my Pigeot when you were passed out”, Tyler admitted, watching the Wingull shiver in Melanie’s hold. “We were lost and I was worried that one pokemon alone might be too dangerous… I didn’t have any other flying-type pokemon with me. Believe me, I had regrets about it… I’m sorry.”

Tyler expected the absolute worst from Craig, knowing how distressed he had been about his Eevee. Hence a hug was the last thing he expected to get.

“It’s fine, you did what you thought was right and it saved us”, Craig merely said, letting go of Tyler way too soon for the others liking. The two looked at each other for a second and ended up smiling for no reason. Tyler returned his attention to Melanie.

“Thanks for taking him in”, he said, indicating towards the Wingull.

“It’s my job”, Melanie pointed out, still smiling softly. “If you would like me to tend to your Pigeot too, I would be more than willing to.”

Tyler didn’t think about it twice since his Pigeot truly looked defeated and lifted the pokemon through the window. After a few words of thanks, Tyler and Craig made their way to their own lodge, feeling numb from the weather and just plain exhausted. Neither of them had ever been so happy to be indoors.

The moment the door closed behind them, the two let out a collective sigh. After a brief moment of eye contact, they surprisingly managed to laugh.

Tyler took off his jacket, shivering at the loss of warmth as he hung it outside the shower to dry. Not actively realising what he was doing, he turned back to a confused looking Craig to take his jacket off for him. The shorter one opened his mouth to say something but just before Tyler left to bring the jacket away, he caught Craig smiling and shaking his head instead.

The only reason Tyler hadn’t apologised for all those times he got a little closer was because Craig never really seemed to mind. He actually seemed amused by it. Surprisingly enough, Tyler could deal with amused.

He threw a towel on Craig’s head and ruffled his hair with it, eliciting a tiny squeal from the other.

“Ah stop – _Tyler!_ ”

“What’s up?”, Tyler responded, laughing when Craig attempted to hit him.

“Alright, fine”, Craig huffed and crossed his arms, suddenly nonchalant. “I don’t mind. Dry my hair, do all the work, that’s cool with me.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.”

“Fine.”

Craig blinked, confusion slowly taking over.

“What?”

“I’ll do it.”

Craig was at a loss for words. Tyler was just smiling at him, looking pretty damn content and pretty damn serious about his intentions.

A short while later, Tyler sat on the couch, cross-legged, while Craig sat in front of it, his head resting in Tyler’s lap, legs stretched out towards the welcomingly warm fireplace. Melanie had been kind enough to pay them a visit despite the weather, leaving a tablet of food and some mulled wine. While this setting definitely gave off Christmas vibes despite it being summer, it was far too comfortable to complain about it.

Craig briefly leaned forward to take a generous sip of mulled wine before letting his head sink back into Tyler’s care. Tyler gently sifted his hands through the other’s damp hair, slowly drying it with a towel. None of this was necessary, Craig could easily dry his hair in a minute if he tried hard enough, but both seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement that this was just fine. Tyler would be lying if he said that he wasn’t happy and a little nervous right then.

Craig’s cheeks were rosy and his eyes were closed and he just looked so _kissable_ right then… But who was Tyler kidding, Craig always looked kissable.

On a more realistic note, Tyler knew that this, whatever it was, wouldn’t last. They helped solve each other’s problems and they’d both head home the next day. If he was lucky, they would text each other for a few weeks after – if Craig even gave him his number – but then they would communicate less and less because the other was just too far away and forget each other. Or at least Craig would forget about Tyler. Tyler doubted he’d get over Craig any time soon.

What a simple man he was for falling for a stranger out of nowhere…

“I didn’t think I’d get this lucky…”

Tyler’s hands paused upon hearing Craig speak. Was he talking about - ?

“I was sure I’d never see Vee again.”

Tyler scowled at the ceiling. Pokemon. Yes. Of course. _That’s what I get for getting my hopes up._ Tyler grudgingly continued sifting his fingers through Craig’s hair, trying to call the idea of anything beyond a friendship out of his mind. It wasn’t happening, end of story. Might as well save himself from too much pain.

“Thanks for helping me find her”, Craig said, moving away from Tyler’s touch to smile back at the giant.

“That’s what friends do”, Tyler smiled bitterly. Craig’s expression faltered just a little.

“Is something - ?”

“No, don’t mind me.” Not forgetting Craig’s soul-piercing stare, he decided to change topics. “So, she evolved, huh?”

“Yeah!”, Craig said excitedly, all traces of fatigue suddenly gone. Tyler half hoped he would have continued to be suspicious and cared a little longer. “I didn’t think she’d be able to.”

“Go on, let her out.”

It was way too obvious that Craig had been burning to spend some time with his previously missing pokemon. Tyler couldn’t blame him. The younger one gladly took the invitation and in a matter of seconds, the Leafeon was standing in front of them. Craig moved up to join Tyler on the couch and the pokemon followed right after him, immediately captivating the two with its cheery being.

“Awh”, Craig cooed as he trailed his hand along its leafy ears.

“They _do_ say that pokemon take after their trainers”, Tyler murmured, only realising what he said after the words had left his mouth. Craig looked up, eyebrows raised.

“Are you saying she’s like me? How?”

“She’s just as ad – “, Tyler bit his tongue just in time, “ – active as you.”

Craig tilted his head in confusion but thankfully decided not to dwell on it for too long.

“I didn’t think there were Moss Rocks around here”, he continued, watching his pokemon stretch a little.

“My roommate once told me that the mountain is supposed to be home to a Moss Rock and a Moon Stone”, Tyler recalled, letting his head rest against the couch. Looks like she found the former first…

The two continued to watch the Leafeon move around until it suddenly began to crawl all over Tyler. It was an odd experience to say the least since most pokemon took ages to get used to new people. Even his friends’ pokemon would refuse to be near him for at least a month before they were willing to give him a chance. Tyler didn’t think too much of it until the energetic Leafeon began to pull at his belt. He guessed it was interested in the pokemon which resided in the attached pokeballs but Tyler had resolved to keep them apart, constantly keeping in mind that this was likely their last day together. No point letting the pokemon get comfortable with each other.

Leafeon was apparently having none of it.

It straight up slapped Tyler’s arm away, ripped off a particular pokeball and jumped into the safety of Craig’s lap. Tyler glared at it but when it dropped the ball, it began shaking like crazy. Only one pokemon Tyler owned ever did that. So when Craig slowly picked up the moving ball and shot Tyler a questioning look, he just nodded.

Craig released the pokemon within and, as expected, it was Bulbasaur. To Tyler’s surprise, Bulbasaur seemed just as eager to meet Leafeon and the two were all over each other at once. Tyler glanced up at Craig, expecting to see unease on his face, but witnessing something completely different.

Craig was watching the two pokemon play with such a endearing smile, he might as well have been watching his own children.

It made Tyler’s heart swell a little.

The night ended rather early without any more odd moves since both of them were extremely tired after that day, both physically and mentally. Tyler had a bit of an internal conflict deciding whether he should pull any last second moves but Craig was asleep before he could make up his mind anyway.

To Tyler’s relief, life gave him another chance when he was shaken awake by Craig the next morning.

“Mmm?”

“Tyler? I need to ask you something real quick. I promise you can go straight back to sleep after that.”

Tyler groaned into his pillow. Sleep versus Craig. “Fine... What’s up…?”

“Melanie said our pokemon still need some rest”, Craig said, kneeling down in front of the couch Tyler had finally agreed to sleep on. “She also said she’s getting new people in so we need to let her know whether we’re staying pretty soon.”

“…how soon?”

“Like, right now.”

It took Tyler a few seconds to fully realise what was happening and when he did, he ripped himself out of his cloud of sleepiness and sat up, almost hitting Craig in the process.

“Fuck, um”, he mumbled, mind racing. “Are you staying?”

“I would if you do…” Tyler swung his legs off the couch and glanced at Craig, who looked a bit uncertain. “If only one of us leaves, it defies the point of letting other people have the lodge. So whether you’re staying or leaving, so am I.”

Tyler nodded slowly, frowning. “Okay… ‘m staying then.”

It was only when Craig had left the lodge to talk to Melanie that Tyler noticed that Craig’s explanation hadn’t been reasonable at all. As if Craig cared about other people having the lodge… It would’ve been understandable if he had said he wanted to stay for his pokemon’s sake but he didn’t even mention it. Did Craig just want to spend more time with Tyler or was he getting his hopes up again for nothing? He was beginning to question what was real and imaginary.

At this point he just wanted it to end, one way or another.

Tyler didn’t ask Craig about it and Craig also seemed a little less talkative than before. He merely guessed he was still exhausted. The storm had finally decided to stop circling the mountains and had continued to draw north, leaving a postcard-worthy Hidden Village. The two spent the day cleaning up the lodge and stocking up on food for the hike back home. Tyler had called Kelly, who had since returned to their hometown. Apparently her new “fated lover” actually lived there as well, which surprised Tyler. He had been sure they knew the majority of people in the area. As a result, both Tyler and Craig would return home alone, without company. The topic of return was avoided to the extreme, both were aware of that.

In the afternoon, they had headed back to the clearing where they had seen the moon, which was a good bit smaller now. They spent a good few hours there until Melanie called, telling them their pokemon were awake and perfectly healthy. Craig and Tyler went back to the hotel to pick them up and decided to head to the pier. A single boat was anchored in the distance and the sun was beginning to disappear behind it. Wingull and Pigeot were back in their pokeballs while Bulbasaur and Leafeon were play-fighting a few meters away on a patch of grass. Tyler and Craig had gathered a few flat stones and were sitting at the end of one of the pier’s narrow boardwalks, taking turns tossing them over the water’s surface. It was mindless and relaxing and exactly what Tyler needed to forget all about tomorrow.

“Hold still”, Craig hissed and the other froze mid-motion. Creeping around a bush far behind them was a tiny Oddish. Tyler rolled his eyes and tossed the stone anyway. “Tyler!”

The Oddish did not seem too fazed though and stayed where it was, enjoying the moonlight that hit it now that the sun had disappeared entirely. Craig sighed.

“You could have scared it away”, he complained.

“I’ve seen too many in my lifetime”, Tyler just muttered, throwing another stone.

“Really? That’s the first one I’ve ever seen.”

Tyler glanced at Craig with a frown. Where did Craig live that he had never encountered an Oddish until now? Clearly far away enough to make a relationship of sorts impossible. “Cryler” sounded stupid anyway… Not that he’d thought about it.

While Craig tossed a few stones over the water, Tyler glanced back at the land, noticing that a lot of smaller pokemon were watching them from a safe distance. Bulbasaur and Leafeon were lying next to each other, the latter asleep. Tyler’s pokemon noticed his trainer’s glance and actually smiled at him, almost encouragingly.

Honestly, Tyler might as well figure out whether he would have had a chance with Craig if distance hadn’t been an issue.

“Why did you come here?”, he asked. Craig looked back at him before throwing his last stone and sitting down next to him.

“I told you, my friend Jay suggested it and we all were going to go there as a group”, he shrugged.

“Why did you still go though? By yourself.”

“I don’t know, it still sounded interesting…”

“The moon or the myth?”

Both of them kept their gazes fixed on the moon. Craig wrapped his arms around his knees, shivering briefly before answering.

“Both, really.”

“So you believe in that kind of stuff?”, Tyler teased, smirking a bit.

“Don’t you?”

It wasn’t the response Tyler had expected. His smile slowly faded when his eyes met Craig’s, unexpectedly serious. The silence stretched for a while before Craig finally averted his eyes and went back to mustering the ship in the distance.

“It doesn’t really matter whether it’s true or not”, he sighed. “Believing is a beautiful feeling and hope is always nice. Sometimes, hoping for something unlikely to be true can be a source of happiness. It’s all about how we deal with disappointment, whether we just accept it or torture ourselves over it.” Craig looked back at Tyler, smiling again. “That’s why I believe that some things are worth hoping for.”

Tyler stared blatantly at the man beside him, taken aback by his surprising amount of honesty and tireless optimism. While he himself was wandering aimlessly, looking for a goal, Craig had learned to admire the landscape on the way. It felt like he had life all figured out and Tyler wanted to be a part of it.

“So do you think this was worth it?”, Tyler asked, curious about the response he’d get. “Was it worth coming here, despite everything that happened? Despite not finding anyone?”

“Who says I didn’t?”

Tyler’s mouth opened but nothing came out. His mind was working in slow-motion and by the time his face lit up with realisation, Craig had gotten up and speed-walked back down the boardwalk, ears and neck _clearly_ red.

Tyler couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face, making his cheeks hurt. He tried to heave himself up as quickly as possible and hurried down the boardwalk after Craig, determined to catch him before he got his pokemon and started a new life on the mountain, away from society, to save himself the embarrassment.

“Craig, wait”, Tyler called but Craig was already off the boardwalk and going straight for his Leafeon, which hid behind its new best friend. “Dude, will you slow the fuck down?”

When the shorter one still refused to stop, Tyler leapt forward, barely catching Craig’s arm. He pulled him back and turned him around. Craig looked ready to cry with embarrassment.

“You can’t just say something like that and run off”, Tyler shook his head. He tried to look serious but he was unable to hide his victorious smile.

“Hahahahaha, watch me bitch”, Craig fake-laughed, trying to tug his arm away but Tyler just tightened his grip on him, unwilling to let him go.

“No”, Tyler said firmly. “Take responsibility for what you say, you ass.”

“Fuck you.”

“Sure.”

Craig’s face flushed red in one instant and Tyler wanted to facepalm himself so hard right then. Way to go, man, way to go.

“What?”

“Nothing”, Tyler mumbled quickly, letting go of Craig, a blush of his own slowly creeping up as well.

“Ah, no no no”, Craig reprimanded, some confidence returning to him. “Take responsibility for what you said, you ass.”

Tyler looked down at Craig and Craig looked back up at Tyler. It started with a grin and ended in full-blown laughter, by the end of which both were even more red-faced and Craig was painfully holding his side. Tyler rubbed his cheeks to soothe the strangely welcome sting but the next time they made eye contact, they both gradually faded into a silence, light smiles still lining their features.

It was when Craig swayed that tiny bit into Tyler’s space, that he knew for sure.

And it was when Tyler smiled and Craig’s eyes wandered down to his lips, when he remembered that this was a bad idea.

It was when Tyler’s expression faltered a little and he hesitated, that Craig knew too.

The younger one stepped backwards, obviously disappointed, and Tyler almost followed him suit. Craig opened his mouth but changed his mind again, turning around to gather up his Leafeon. The pokemon looked a little confused but didn’t protest as Craig carried her back into the lodge. Bulbasaur seemed ready to protest but a glance at Tyler stopped it in his tracks. It walked over to Tyler and nudged his leg but the giant just shook his head at him.

He didn’t know whether it was the right decision. If it felt bad when he thought about it, it definitely felt terrible now that he’d done it. He didn’t know whether his actions were sensible or fucked up.

Tyler picked up his pokemon and slowly followed Craig to the lodge. When he got there, no light was shining through the curtains, it was pitch black inside. He only spotted Craig on the floor against the wall when he returned his Leafeon to her pokeball. Tyler trudged over to the bed and sat down at the end of it, returning his Bulbasaur to his pokeball as well. Then there was silence.

After a few long minutes of nothing but wordless tension, Tyler’s eyes adjusted to the near-complete lack of light and he was able to see Craig move from time to time. He still remained in his spot to Tyler’s right. The silence was eating away at Tyler and it felt so _childish_ to not talk about it… He pinched his hand a few times, wincing each time, but it helped to get him to talk.

“Why did you walk away?”, he asked dumbly. Of course he knew why, it was a stupid question to ask and yet –

“Tyler, do you like me?”

Tyler stared at the dark silhouette that was Craig. “Yeah. Yeah I do.”

Next thing he knew, a light weight straddled him, hands were trailing his jaw and hot air was grazing his face. Their foreheads were touching and Tyler’s own erratic heartbeat was assaulting his ears, his face was hot and he felt like his head was about to explode.

“Why don’t you kiss me then?”

It took him everything in his power to resist doing it, he doubted Craig was fully aware of that.

“Because after tomorrow we’ll never see each other again and I can’t fucking handle that as it is now”, Tyler muttered under his breath, trying his best to calm his pulse. “If I touch you once, I’ll want to touch you again and again and... I’d rather forget you than long for something I can’t get.”

“We’re adults, we can deal with a bit of distance, Tyler.”

“Who says it’ll last?”

“Who says it won’t? You’re not even willing to fucking try?”

If Craig had been disappointed, then he was livid now.

 _Some things are worth hoping for…_ The look in Craig’s eyes made Tyler realise that if those things really existed, then Craig must be one of them.

“Fuck you, Craig”, he muttered before he stopped resisting and kissed Craig. It was careful and hesitant but it was there. He was kissing him. It wasn’t as awkward as he had thought it’d be, it felt oddly natural, but Tyler had half expected to actually explode after feeling like a ticking bomb around Craig all the time. When they parted, they looked for reactions in each other’s eyes.

“That was kind of lame”, Craig sighed, but smiled slightly, trying to diffuse the tension.

“Holding back”, Tyler murmured, frowning to the side.

“Yeah yeah.”

Tyler buried his face in Craig’s chest while the other wrapped his arms around him. After some silence, they had decided to just abandon the heavier topic for now.

“Kelly’s gonna kill me”, Tyler’s muffled voice sounded.

Craig questioningly tilted his head. “Why?”

“I said I’d be back home by tonight”, Tyler chuckled, resurfacing to look at Craig. “I never told her we’re staying another day. She wanted me to be home before she goes to work.”

“What does she do?”

“Pokemon research. We’ve got a massive research center next to our local pokecenter, she works there. I hardly ever see her.”

“Oh we’ve got one like that too”, Craig hummed, lost in thought. “Near our local gym.”

A few seconds later, the two frowned at each other.

“Don’t tell me you’re from…?”

“Cerulean City?”

“No fucking way, holy _shit_ –“

“Yes fucking way! You’ve got no excuses left.”

“Come here”, Tyler smirked. “Your ass belongs to me, bitch.”

Craig just laughed. “It’s all yours, man.”

Tyler pulled Craig into another kiss which definitely made up for the first one. It wasn’t light, it wasn’t dry, it wasn’t slow and it definitely wouldn’t lead to simple cuddling. Not that it was a bad thing.

After a busy night and an inherent lack of sleep, the two spent a morning being unapologetically cheesy together before leaving just in time for the checkout. After a few more words of thanks to Melanie, Tyler and Craig started their daytrip back to Cerulean City and arrived early in the evening. Before they even made it to Craig’s place, they ran into Kelly, who was accompanied by someone else.

“Tyler!”

“Kelly, hey”, Tyler said sheepishly. Kelly flicked his forehead in annoyance.

“Where were you?”, she demanded, though thankfully not as angry as Tyler had expected her to be.

“Decided to stay another night, pokemon were injured”, he explained. Craig caught up to them and sent her the best apologetic smile he could muster.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to keep him”, he said. “My Wingull needed some rest and he was kind enough to stay.”

Tyler tried to keep himself together but Kelly saw right through him. A smile gradually replaced her frown as she held out a hand, which Craig shook at once.

“Oh I’m sure you didn’t, darling”, she said in a voice which was way too sweet for her. “He didn’t call to tell me after all. Excuse Tyler’s inability to be a normally functioning organism by introducing us, I’m Kelly, his roommate.”

“Craig, nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.”

Kelly raised her eyebrows at a slightly embarrassed Tyler.

“Have you now?”, she said, almost laughing. Her accomplice, who had been standing a good bit away, finally decided to join them. “Oh, Tyler, good timing – that’s the guy I was telling you about.”

Tyler, glad about the conversation change, immediately sent the man a forced smile and shook his hand. “Tyler, pleasure.”

“Scott, pleasure’s on my side”, the man responded, wrapping an arm around Kelly. Then his eyes fell on Craig, who had been too distracted to even notice the addition. “Craigo?”

Craig looked up and smiled broadly when he spotted the other. “Scotty! Haven’t heard of you in a while, how are things?”

“Things are good, moved here a week ago”, Scott grinned. “It’s a sweet place with beautiful people.” He smiled down at Kelly who just shook her head and gave him a chaste kiss.

“No shit”, Craig muttered under his breath. If Tyler hadn’t been mortified before, he definitely was now. Kelly loved it. “So, uh, guys, Battlegrounds at my place?”

Tyler was quick to jump on board and Scotty agreed as well, leaving a stunned Kelly in the middle of the road.

“Guys, what the fuck?”

“You have to work, sure?”, Tyler asked over his shoulder. Kelly sulked but brightened up when Scotty returned to give her another kiss.

“Just drop by for lunch”, he suggested and his smile was enough to get her to cheer up again. As she waved goodbye and walked away, Scotty just shook his head, muttering “clingy bitch”, clearly loud enough for his girlfriend to hear. But it’s just what they did, so when Tyler saw Kelly flip Scotty off with a smile, he had a feeling she might be right, maybe this all was somehow meant to be.

Whether this myth was true or not, Tyler had found someone. Whether he was a “soulmate” or something of that sort or whether they’d last, Tyler didn’t know. But he was glad he believed in the unbelievable for once. Craig nuzzled up against Tyler’s side and the taller one wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer. When he glanced behind them, he saw Kelly turning around one more time. Tyler just smiled.

_Just this once… Thanks Kelly._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY DONE AHHH
> 
> Sorry it took so long to finish this one off, I had a hard time writing it. Someone needs to teach me how to fluff... Also didn't mean to make this chapter so long but thoughts went to paper and I didn't want to edit them anymore, so yeah... The ending is pretty sloppy but I just wanted to get it done at this point, especially considering I've got an exam tomorrow.
> 
> This is the first fiction I've ever posted so it was a bit nerve-wrecking but the comments kept me going <3 Thanks for anyone that left comments and/or kudos, or even bothered to click on it, I appreciate it a lot. :] I hope I can do better in future works.
> 
> For anyone dealing with exams, I hope they went/will go well! For anyone dealing with life (who isn't, really), I believe in you. :)
> 
> Feel free to leave any final comments, feedback, suggestions or even point out spelling mistakes (you won't be Grammar-Nazi shamed, promise)!
> 
> Thanks for sticking around. Have a good one guys. :]


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